Seats Question

[Donie]

The car is a 1978 Roadster with the dreadful 'deckchair' seat covers.

Are the seat frames the same as earlier chrome bumper cars, and can they be re-covered in the 'fuller' style of the older leather seaats?

[Charles Farran]

Hi Donie,
I don't know what part of the country you live in , but PJM Motors who are based at Market Drayton TF9 3SN are worth considering.(They have a web site). They provided me with leather seats on frames on the basis that traded in my old frames. (Unless you are an expert in seat trimming & want to do it your self - It all depends of course what you want to spend). The frames in the leather seats i bought are the same as i traded in, but i had the option of going for either a single pillar or twin pillar headrest style. (I opted for the single pillar to keep the set up the same as the car was originally produced with - with hindsight i probably should have gone for the twin pillar style as i think they are more robust & support after market seat belt guides better).
See attached photo.
Cheers,
Charles

[Statler]

Another option is Classic British Sportscar Trim, guy called Mike Jasper cbstrims@hotmail.com : 07855 058921
I'm going to re-cover my own.

I found him on Ebay, he's been really helpful and sent me colour samples.
I'm looking to go grey vinyl as I can't justify the outlay on leather with mine being a GT.

I haven't placed an order with him, but am heading that way.

I bought replacement foams from MGB Hive, but I believe the frames are mostly the same from 73 on, so you could probably go for a 'hump' foam like Charles has, with the appropriate cover.

Looks lovely Charles!

[Not_Anumber]

Im going to keep the grey deckchair fabric in my GT after a clean but am just looking to replace the foam in the front seats which has sagged over the years leaving the covers looking baggy.

[Charles Farran]

Hi Chris,
You are lucky that your deck chair covering is still in good enough condition so that you can put in new foam. My driver's one was starting to get worn with at least one tear. The original seat coverings are /were no longer available , which made my decision to change the coverings/seating altogether easier.
I have seen used seats with the original coverings on e bay from time to time, but the £ asked for, whatever their condition don't merit proceeding down that route in my opinion although others may disagree.
You will appreciate new foams on the seats, as i hadn't realised how much the old ones had sagged over the years!
Cheers,
Charles

[Statler]

I had another look at my deckchairs last night and they are pretty good still, no tears in the cloth, just grubby.
A few areas of the vinyl could do with being repaired, but they are low down around the tilt lever.

The nylon fabric has parted company from the backing foam and I'm wondering if this can be rectified without too much work, as I have new webs and foams in the store for them.

[Not_Anumber]

I have new foam and webbing on order. Does anyone know if the deckchair covers can cope with machine washing or will they be too fragile to survive that ?

[Statler]

I saw it recommended that old cloth be cleaned with an upholstery cleaning machine.
The wet fabric should tighten up as it dries.

My concern is that the fabric has separated from the thin backing foam in places, so I'll probably need to glue that back before cleaning them.
I have a little pet vac/washer with a 4" nozzle which should do the job.

I think a washing machine would be too brutal.

[Not_Anumber]

Thanks for the advice. Ive stripped down the first seat and initially went over the fabric facings of the covers with diluted upholstery cleaner to get the worst of the dirt. From there I hand washed them twice then rinsed and laid them out over the old seat foams to dry. The first set have come up very well reminding me the grey deckchair style isnt so bad when it's clean. Im hoping the passengers side will be just as good.
I have cleaned up the first frame and primed, painted and lacquered the parts that will be visible.
Removing the headrest was quite challenging as others have commented. Mine were stuck fast so i injected some wd40 around the headrest stalk and allowed that to sink in overnight. The next day the headrest was able to be pulled up and down smoothly leaving me to just tackle the retaining tang near the bottom of the stalk, reaching in with some plumbing grips. Ive disabled the tang as it is only there to prevent theft of the headrest, something that is unlikely to happen and wouldnt be difficult to replace.

The new seat foams and webbing have arrived from the MGB Hive. I will be gluing a square of hessian on the underside of the base foam to prevent undue wear against the webbing, a recommended step so surprised the hessian isnt supplied with the kit but it's easy enough to get hold of. Though there are mounting holes for 5 cross straps on each base only 4 straps were used before and there are only 4 in each kit. Ive decided to go for all 5 by reusing one of the old straps on each seat base but if that does make the seat too firm I can always remove it in the future.

Hopefully I should reassemble the first seat this evening and make a good start on stripping down the 2nd.

[Statler]

Great work.

A few pics of your progress would be good to see